Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 117 Big Construction

He Yanliang was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the First Guard Brigade for his meritorious service in wiping out the Brazilian guerrillas. On the day the promotion order was issued, all soldiers of the First Guard Brigade set out from Porto Alegre under the order of Li Mingyuan and arrived at Santa Maria, the resettlement site for the first batch of retired soldiers, two days later.
Santa Maria is located in the central part of Rio Grande do Sul, far away from hostile countries such as Santa Catarina State controlled by Brazil and Uruguay. It is located in the heart of the area occupied by the Chinese Independence Army and is the rear base in Li Mingyuan's plan.

The main force of the mopping-up force is stationed in the Santa Maria area, and the first batch of retired troops have also been resettled in the rural areas around Santa Maria. Together with the 4,000 soldiers from the First Guard Brigade who were ordered to come, the number of Chinese in the Santa Maria area has reached more than 20,000. In Rio Grande do Sul, there are seven or eight cities of the same size as Santa Maria, but in terms of resettled population, Santa Maria is second only to Porto Alegre.

Porto Alegre is the capital of Rio Grande do Sul and the temporary headquarters of the Chinese Independence Army. A large number of Chinese soldiers and retired soldiers were settled in Porto Alegre. While taking advantage of Porto Alegre's geographical advantage of being near the sea, a large number of field army main forces were also stationed to guard against the Brazilian army's maritime attack.

During the Paraguayan War, the Chinese Independence Army captured a total of three ironclads. One of the ironclads with damaged main guns was repaired and after removing a turret, it had restored most of its combat capabilities. It formed the main battleship with the other two ironclads. At the port, the captured Brazilian navy taught the Chinese soldiers how to operate it, but it was still a long way from formally forming a maritime combat capability.

Naval warfare is different from water warfare. When fighting in Paraguay, the Brazilian navy can rely on captured Brazilian naval soldiers to operate artillery to attack the unprepared enemy. However, on the vast ocean, the Brazilian Navy will not have enough room to move around and will not allow the Chinese Independence Army to attack them like a sitting duck. Therefore, when the naval force is inferior to the Brazilian Navy, there is a certain risk in establishing the headquarters in Porto Alegre.

Fearing that the Brazilian army would attack Porto Alegre from the sea, Liu Pu and others persuaded Li Mingyuan to move the headquarters to Santa Maria, but Li Mingyuan rejected their proposal.

Porto Alegre is one of the few good ports in Rio Grande do Sul and the only channel for the Chinese Independence Army to communicate with the outside world. If the main force moves back, the remaining troops will find it difficult to resist the Brazilian army with ironclad ships.

Brazil has a population of nearly 10 million, making it the most populous country in South America. The loss of more than 100,000 ground forces in the Paraguayan War will temporarily deprive it of its ability to counterattack on land. However, Brazil's naval power, with a population advantage of nearly 10 million, should not be underestimated. Two large ironclad ships plus a large number of gunboats and sailing warships. If Britain intervenes and encourages Brazil to attack from the sea and seize Porto Alegre, the Chinese Independence Army will not only lose the best port, but will also be blocked on land by the Brazilian Navy.

The sea routes were blocked and the land was full of hostile countries. Without the influx of Chinese immigrants and the exchange of trade materials with overseas countries, the combat effectiveness of the Chinese Independence Army, which had been honed through thousands of miles of battles, had no place to be used. Therefore, Li Mingyuan rejected the opposition and did not choose the seemingly safe but actually dangerous suggestion. Instead, he used Porto Alegre as his temporary headquarters and was always on guard against the Brazilian army's maritime attack.

Liu Pu, Sun Bin and others, as Li Mingyuan's advisers, might have provided Li Mingyuan with useful suggestions in normal traditional wars. However, as they were not influenced by modern sea power theories, they would not have thought of the decisive significance of naval power in a modern war. Liu Pu and others did not see the disadvantages of the main force of the Chinese Independence Army moving backwards. Li Mingyuan did not ignore their suggestions. Instead, while setting up the headquarters in Porto Alegre, he agreed to establish a production line for retired soldiers, a large amount of supplies, and rifles and bullets disassembled and transported from Peru in Santa Maria as a rear production and construction base.

The construction of the base requires a lot of manpower and material resources. In order to complete the construction of the military factory and put it into production as soon as possible, Li Mingyuan transferred 3,000 Brazilian prisoners of war to He Yanliang for use, and the remaining more than 10,000 Brazilian prisoners were concentrated in Porto Alegre, responsible for the construction of defensive fortifications in the port area.

After receiving the 3,000 Brazilian prisoners of war from the messenger officer, He Yanliang asked, "I have 10,000 retired soldiers and 3,000 prisoners of war. The construction and production of the military factory can be completed within the time specified by the prince. However, after the military factory plan is completed, what should be done with these prisoners of war? Should they be dealt with on the spot?"

"Commander He has misunderstood. These prisoners of war are not only used to build military factories. The prince has other work for them to do."

The messenger officer took out a blueprint from his bosom and handed it to He Yanliang, saying, "This is a small defensive fortification designed by the General Staff based on the proposal of the prince. When the military factory is completed, 3,000 prisoners of war and some retired soldiers will be transferred to the work of building a small fortress. Commander He, this is a task assigned by the prince himself, you must complete it conscientiously."

He Yanliang had studied military theory in the wounded soldiers' team for half a year and could understand ordinary fortification drawings. However, the drawings handed to him by the messenger officer made him confused. The structural structure of the fortifications was very simple, but the construction area of ​​a fortification was less than three or four meters long. What role could such a small fortification play?
"Staff Officer Wu, what is the use of the fortress on the blueprint? I don't understand it at all."

"It's normal that Brigade Commander He doesn't understand. The fortress on the blueprint is somewhat special. It's different from the fortresses usually built by foreigners."

The staff officer placed the blueprint on a table and pointed to the mark below the blueprint. "Generally, fortresses are often built around cities to form defensive fulcrums for defending cities. However, the small fortresses you are going to build this time are different. They will be arranged in various areas in the field according to the specific locations selected by the staff after surveying, forming a fortress group covering the entire Santa Maria area."

"Santa Maria is not small in area. The small fortress built in the wild has insufficient defense personnel. Moreover, if they are scattered throughout the area, won't the enemy be able to defeat them one by one?" He Yanliang asked.

"No, each small fortress will be located in a hidden area such as a high slope or a mountain forest. The main structure of the fortress will be built deep underground, and the surface of the fortress will retain the original appearance of the construction site to ensure that the enemy cannot find it. In addition, each small fortress will be connected by a tunnel dug underneath. Even if a fortress is exposed, the defenders in the fortress can retreat through the tunnel and block the tunnel leading to the fortress to prevent the enemy from finding the entrance to other fortresses."

"Use tunnels to connect the small fortresses. Even if the enemy occupies the ground area of ​​Santa Maria, our army can use the tunnels dug in advance to gather near the enemy, break into the enemy camp at night, and annihilate the enemy troops that enter Santa Maria."

After listening to the staff officer's introduction, He Yanliang thought for a while and realized. "When the Brazilian army counterattacks again, the number of troops will definitely be even larger. When fighting in Paraguay, the prince led our army to defeat the Brazilian army by surprise. After suffering a big loss, the Brazilian army will naturally be very alert. It is basically impossible to annihilate the enemy as quickly as last time.
Therefore, under the advice of the prince, the General Staff re-formulated a plan to deal with the Brazilian army's counterattack. Porto Alegre will be the main defense point of our army to hold back the Brazilian offensive force at sea. Santa Maria and other occupied areas will implement the strategy of clearing the fields and mobilizing all the people to fight. Let the enemy enter Rio Grande do Sul, and then use the bunkers and fortresses connected to each other to gather forces and annihilate the scattered Brazilian troops with local superior forces. "

"The Brazilian army's counterattack in Rio Grande do Sul was to recover lost territory. In the early stages of the enemy's attack, our army moved to the bunkers and some important areas for defense, leaving the evacuated cities and towns to the Brazilian army. They would not leave these areas alone and would definitely divide their forces to occupy various places. In this way, our army avoided direct combat with the main Brazilian forces. Instead, we could use the sparrow warfare and surprise attacks taught by the prince to kill small groups of enemies, continuously weaken the enemy's manpower, and create opportunities for the main force to annihilate the invading enemy."

The purpose of building the underground fortress was to divide the Brazilian army. In order to recover the country, even when faced with empty cities and towns, the Brazilian army had to send troops to garrison, implementing the superficial phenomenon of recovering the country and falling into the trap set for them by the Chinese Independence Army.

"Commander He, Santa Maria is the designated rear base. Military factories and various factory facilities will be relocated here. The prince earlier placed the first batch of retired soldiers in Santa Maria and transferred 3,000 soldiers to you, all for the purpose of better construction and protection of the base. Commander He has a heavy burden on his shoulders. If you have any difficulties, please raise them. I will convey them to the General Staff and the prince."

If the Brazilian army counterattacks, Porto Alegre and the Santa Maria Arsenal will become two key points of defense and cannot be easily abandoned. Therefore, after completing the construction of the base and the bunker fortress, He Yanliang will also have to take on the responsibility of guarding the base. The burden is heavy.

The staff officer asked him if he had any difficulties. He Yanliang thought about it carefully and said, "If the Brazilian army invades, will Commander Luo stationed in Santa Maria be transferred back to Porto Alegre?"

"The mission of the mopping-up force is to expel the Brazilian residents. Once the mission is completed, the First Division and the Cavalry Brigade will be transferred back to Porto Alegre for rest and recuperation."

The transfer of the mopping-up force back to Porto Alegre means that the garrison in Santa Maria only has 4,000 soldiers from the 1st Guard Brigade and 10,000 retired soldiers. The 4,000 soldiers from the 1st Guard Brigade are the main combat force, and of the 10,000 soldiers who were not even selected for the Guard Brigade, except for 1,000 disabled and wounded soldiers, about 4,000 of the remaining 9,000 soldiers can be selected to assist in combat. A total of 8,000 people are the entire military force to defend Santa Maria.

It was a bit difficult for 8,000 people to garrison the smaller Santa Maria base. In order to prevent the base from falling, He Yanliang proposed to allocate a regiment of field troops to garrison the Santa Maria base. The staff officer nodded in agreement and promised to report the situation truthfully to the General Staff.

After explaining the task assigned by the General Staff, the staff officer left Santa Maria and returned to Porto Alegre, leaving behind soldiers to measure and select those who would build the bunker fortress.

In Santa Maria, retired soldiers who had just finished harvesting corn began construction work under the command of He Yanliang together with Brazilian prisoners of war. Three thousand prisoners were assigned to the most tiring work such as digging and carrying stones, while the retired soldiers were responsible for thickening and raising the walls on the original basis of the Santa Maria Castle. The musket production equipment that had been disassembled into scattered parts was pulled into the castle by the retired soldiers, and cannons were placed above the castle pulled by slings. Busy construction projects were spread throughout the castle and wild areas of Santa Maria.

Retired soldiers and prisoners of war in Santa Maria are busy all the time, and Porto Alegre is also a scene of construction.

The Chinese Independence Army fought with the Brazilian army in Paraguay. After several battles, they captured a total of 27,000 Brazilian troops. Together with the 5,000 Brazilian prisoners transferred from Paraguay, the number of prisoners in the hands of the Chinese Independence Army reached 32,000. More than 30,000 prisoners were all excellent free labor. 3,000 prisoners were sent to He Yanliang, and 5,000 prisoners were each sent to Erechín and Caxias do Sul, two places close to the Brazilian forces. Together with the prisoners transferred from other places, there were still 15,000 Brazilian prisoners left in Porto Alegre. All 15,000 Brazilian prisoners were arranged to reinforce the port of Lake Patos connected to the sea and build artillery positions.

The Chinese Independence Army's naval forces have not been formally formed. The naval forces with insufficient maritime combat effectiveness need protection from the artillery batteries and fortifications at the port. Therefore, based on the artillery batteries built by the Brazilians, six newly planned artillery batteries are under intensive construction. The six newly planned artillery pieces are distributed on the east and west sides of the port, with three new artillery pieces added on each side. Together with the artillery pieces left by the Brazilians, they form the core force to defend the port.

The artillery battery alone could not make Li Mingyuan feel assured of the safety of the warship. Outside the artillery battery, all the destroyed gunboats and sailing warships that had lost their combat effectiveness that were captured in the Paraguayan war were dismantled, and the cannons on the gunboats and warships were dismantled and installed outside the artillery battery to form an outer protective firepower.
Between the outer artillery batteries and the port artillery batteries is a guerrilla fleet consisting of 25 gunboats, which use the advantages of their small size and flexible mobility to harass the Brazilian army's attack. At the same time, the 25 gunboats will also serve as an early warning. When the naval forces patrolling the outer sea issue a warning of an enemy attack, the 25 gunboats will scatter the captured mines on the lake outside the port in the shortest time possible, acting as the first line of defense to block Brazilian warships.

The earliest modern sea mines appeared during the Russo-Turkish War in 1769, when Russian engineers first tried to use floating mines and blew up the Turkish floating bridge to Dunai. Since then, various types of sea mines have been continuously developed and improved, and widely used. In the mid-19th century, Russian B.C. Yatubi invented the electrolyte-triggered anchor mine. In the Crimean War of 1854-1856, Tsarist Russia used this type of triggered anchor mine in harbor defense warfare.

Then during the American Civil War, mines also played an important role in naval warfare.

Li Mingyuan was very happy when he first heard that mines had been captured. He thought that he could lay a large number of mines to block the sea attack by Brazilian warships. However, after seeing the captured mines, this idea was immediately dispelled. The number of captured mines was not large, and at most they were only enough to be laid once, and there was no factory in Porto Alegre that produced mines.

The captured mines were lost after being used once. After asking the Chinese navy in training to preserve the mines and take them out for use in battle, Li Mingyuan felt that it was time to spend money again to buy weapons and weapon production equipment.

(End of this chapter)